Skype’s investor has new multimillion fund

London-based Index Ventures, best known for being one of the first investors in the Internet telephony company Skype, has raised another 350 million euro in a new fund investing in IT and life science companies. This time, Index will also go after the trendy green tech field.

Index Ventures invests in early stage companies, primarily in Europe. For the first time, there will now be a certain focus on Eastern Europe as the new hot area for technology companies.

“Eastern Europe is an emerging market and has a lot of new technology with great engineers and cheap labor,” said Danny Rimer, general partner at Index Ventures’ London office.

In the IT field he sees investment opportunities in open source, virtual worlds, online advertising models and new e-commerce solutions. While many U.S. investors are looking for deals in India and China, Rimer still believes in the European market.

“The U.S. may see Europe more as a museum to go to for vacations, but there are entrepreneurs that are going to prove them wrong,” said Rimer.

Index Ventures is also expanding the group of venture partners with Saul Klein, former global vice president of marketing for Skype.